Question

Give an account of the factors that led to the emergence of the Second Wave Feminist Movement in the USA, in the 1960s. What was the impact on the status of women in America?

Answer 1

The women’s movement of the 1960s led to a new wave of feminism that addresses the national issues of gender.
Beginnings of the Second Wave: After a brief period of inertia, the women’s movement gained momentum with the onset of the 1960s. Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, helped pave the way for the new phase of women’s liberation. President John F. Kennedy organized the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, which helped usher the changes such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963, making wage discrimination a federal crime, and the end of gender discrimination in federal workplaces. Moreover, women were included in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when gender discrimination was outlawed in addition to racial discrimination.

As a result, three major campaigns launched during the decade to create what is known as the second wave of feminism. These campaigns were represented by individuals within the following classifications: Liberal Feminism, Radical Feminism, and Conservative Feminism. These groups clashed throughout the 1960s and early 1970s over the roles and rights of women in the society, and the movement eventually came to a climax over the Equal Rights Amendment. Let’s take a look at those involved in the movement.

Liberal Feminism: The liberal feminists, sometimes known as social feminists, attempted to promote liberation and address the inequality between men and women through political tact and diplomacy. The National Organization for Women (NOW), founded in 1966, was a powerful political arm of the liberal feminists and was led by individuals such as Betty Friedan, who served as the President.

Radical Feminism: The radical feminists of the era supported a more revolutionary and militant agenda in regard to women’s liberation. Radical feminists, such as Shulamith Firestone and Judith Brown, believed that men, and the institutions created by men, had oppressed every aspect of the woman.

The Conservative Movement: The antithesis to the liberal and radical versions of the women’s liberation movement was the conservative feminist movement. Phyllis Schlafly’s writings in ‘A Choice, Not an Echo ’ became a leading platform for the conservative movement. The conservative movement rejected the idea of radical change in regard to socio-economic and gender equality. Instead, the conservatives believed in two principles: maintaining the status quo of female societal roles and self-fulfillment, which was considered more of a moderate approach.

Benefits to Women: It focused on discussing and changing a broad range of public and private injustices,
including discriminatory laws and policies, sexuality and sexual identity; marriage and child-rearing workplace environment; reproductive rights and violence against women (rape and battering). Formation of local, state, and federal government groups on behalf of women as well as many independent organizations that fought for women, and human, rights human rights and women’s social and civil equality were now becoming a major part of the country’s political agenda.

It sought to create a new, fully human and positive images of women in both pop culture and the media to fight the negative images and messages commonly in circulation.

Impact:

1. This wave saw the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972.
2. The government through the different legislations has tried to do away with gender discrimination.
3. President J.F. Kennedy brought in the Equal Pay Act which was passed by the US Congress in 1963. According to this act, the employer may not pay lower wages to the employees of one gender that it pays to the other gender employees within the same establishment with equal skill, responsibility, and similar working conditions.